Chapter 189: One New Member
With each tap, he considered his options. The alliance with Helena was on shaky ground. What, he wondered, will the woman do now that she knew he also had the location of the Ascension well?
That was why he was accelerating his plans. Drinking from the well was their top priority but so was their safety.
The door to the study opened and the woman filed in.
Ezra sat up, his focus sharpening.
"Alright." He looked towards Red. "What were you able to find?"
"The records at the City Lord\'s domain did have something on the well." Red answered.
"The location was there all along?" Gen asked incredulously.
"No. There was nothing on the well\'s location or contents." Red answered. "There were only records of deaths."
"Deaths?" Olivia frowned from her place beside Ezra\'s desk. "The Ascension well kills?"
"Yes." Red answered. "It was hidden deep in the other records but the deaths caused by the well has been recorded as deaths due to low vitality."
Ezra leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "I knew there was a catch."
"Apparently, the well has a minimum vitality requirement. Our Ascensions need vitality. The well doesn\'t remove the need for vitality but instead, reduces the amount of vitality needed. Those who try to ascend without enough vitality die in the process."
"Do we know the minimum amount of vitality required for the use of the well?" Olivia asked.
"No." Red answered. "There are no records of that."
There was silence in the room as they thought about it. Drinking from the well without the necessary vitality would be a death sentence for Olivia.
He had spent time since they hatched their plan sending most of his vitality exclusively to Olivia even at the cost of his blood oath to Red. Fortunately, Red had permitted it.
However, the vitality they had accumulated was a mere fraction of the amount needed to ascend.
Would that be enough?
His mind wandered till it landed on a certain young old man.
"Wait a minute. Adam was able to use the Ascension well wasn\'t he? And he was human."
The women\'s eyes snapped to him in attention as his mind went to his human soul.
"Adam was able to survive because he was human. His soul was able to create a steady amount of vitality in order to help him."
Olivia straightened in realization. "We could do hat too! All we need is a steady supply of vitality through the soul bond!"
"Exactly!" Ezra laughed in delight.
That was the moment his phone dinged with the sound of an incoming message. He frowned as he pulled it out of his pocket.
It was from an unknown number. He opened it to see a simple message that read:
\'Griffin found out your betrayal through peacekeeper. Run.\'
That was when he felt it. A tug through the blood debt from X.
He shot to his feet immediately.
"Helena told Griffin about our plans to betray him!"
"What?" Gen was alert in an instant, ready for a fight.
"We need to get out of here!" Ezra commanded. "Pack anything that could be used to track us. Leave the rest. You have one minute."
The women were put of the study before he even finished the last sentence. The breeze from their departure rustled the curtains of the windows behind him.
He turned back to the table, grabbing documents and destroying them. He put the necessary memory sticks in his pockets and destroyed the rest.
He turned to leave before pausing. He couldn\'t resist a final message to the one he knew would be coming after him.
He turned, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.
Quickly scribbling his message, he reached into a drawer and retrieved the dark arrow which had previously been embedded in his wall.
He placed the paper on his desk and with a quick stab, pinned it to the desk using the arrow.
He smirked at the message and left.
He rushed to the living room of the mansion where the ladies were already waiting.
"Olivia." He called out. "First, let\'s go to the City Lord\'s domain."
Olivia nodded and they grabbed hold of each other, disappearing in a flash of light.
They appeared in the public teleportation room of the City Lord\'s domain, stepping out quickly before other vampires came and they were seen.
No one had to know that they had been here.
A few minutes later, they were gathered in Red\'s office.
As they all took their seat, Red sighed at she paced the length of the office. "What do we do now? What are the next steps?"
"The next step," Ezra stood from the chair he was sitting on, facing Red directly, "is for you to choose."
Red stopped her pacing, turning to stare at him. "Choose?" She frowned, confused.
"If anything happens," Ezra stepped closer, "we can leave in an instant but you can\'t. You work here."
"When Griffin can\'t find us, he\'ll come after the person most closest to us, which is you."
There was silence as Red processed his words, her eyes widening in realization. She turned to see Olivia and Gen who were staring at her, their expressions serious.
"I thought about it and I realized...," Ezra turned away, staring around the room, "how useful you\'ve been to us."
"You\'ve helped us even when you had no need to. Like right now." He turned back to her with a smile.
Red stared at him, her face going through different expressions like she had no idea what to be feeling.
"You have different beautiful qualities and have an in with the vampires within the City Lord\'s domain. Those are just a few reasons why I believe you will be a good fit in my coven."
Red\'s face went slack with shock.
"So, what do you say, Red?" Ezra stretched a hand out. "Will you join the Matten Coven?"
Red blinked in shock for a few times before her expression firmed. She turned and walked to her desk, rummaging through it as the others watched in confusion.
She finally pulled out a document and filled it. She turned to Ezra and presented it to him with a wide smile on her face.
"Sign it." She said. "With blood, please."
Ezra burst into laughter at that.
"You had us going for a moment there." Gen piped up from her spot on the chair, giggling.
Olivia watched from next to her, a hint of a smile on her face.
In a few minutes, they had gone through the procedures.
"Okay." Red said. "You guys can go on. I\'ll be staying back to file the proper documents and make this official. Don\'t worry about me. I\'m still a subject under the City Lord. I\'ll be safe here."
"Alright." Ezra agreed. "Stay safe. We\'ll be back for you in thirty minutes."
And with that, they left, missing Natalia\'s arrival by just a single minute.